BHAGAVAD-GITA 8:14

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BHAGAVAD-GITA 8:14

 

ananya-cetah satatam

yo mam smarati nityasah

tasyaham sulabhah partha

nitya-yuktasya yoginah

 

WORD FOR WORD

 

ananya-cetah--without deviation of the mind; satatam--always;

yah--anyone who; mam--Me (Krsna); smarati--remembers;

nityasah--regularly; tasya--to him; aham--I am; su-labhah--very easy

to achieve; partha--O son of Prtha; nitya--regularly;

yuktasya--engaged; yoginah--for the devotee.

 

TRANSLATION

 

For one who always remembers Me without deviation, I am easy to

obtain, O son of Prtha, because of his constant engagement in

devotional service.

 

PURPORT

 

This verse especially describes the final destination attained by the

unalloyed devotees who serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead in

bhakti-yoga. Previous verses have mentioned four different kinds of

devotees--the distressed, the inquisitive, those who seek material

gain, and the speculative philosophers. Different processes of

liberation have also been described: karma-yoga, jnana-yoga and

hatha-yoga. The principles of these yoga systems have some bhakti

added, but this verse particularly mentions pure bhakti-yoga, without

any mixture of jnana, karma or hatha. As indicated by the word

ananya-cetah, in pure bhakti-yoga the devotee desires nothing but

Krsna. A pure devotee does not desire promotion to heavenly planets,

nor does he seek oneness with the brahmajyoti or salvation or

liberation from material entanglement. A pure devotee does not desire

anything. In the Caitanya-caritamrta the pure devotee is called

niskama, which means he has no desire for self-interest. Perfect peace

belongs to him alone, not to them who strive for personal gain.

Whereas a jnana-yogi, karma-yogi or hatha-yogi has his own selfish

interests, a perfect devotee has no desire other than to please the

Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore the Lord says that for

anyone who is unflinchingly devoted to Him, He is easy to attain.

 

A pure devotee always engages in devotional service to Krsna in one of

His various personal features. Krsna has various plenary expansions

and incarnations, such as Rama and Nrsimha, and a devotee can choose

to fix his mind in loving service to any of these transcendental forms

of the Supreme Lord. Such a devotee meets with none of the problems

that plague the practitioners of other yogas. Bhakti-yoga is very

simple and pure and easy to perform. One can begin simply by chanting

Hare Krsna. The Lord is merciful to all, but as we have already

explained, He is especially inclined toward those who always serve Him

without deviation. The Lord helps such devotees in various ways. As

stated in the Vedas (Katha Upanisad 1.2.23), yam evaisa vrnute tena

labhyas/ tasyaisa atma vivrnute tanum svam: one who is fully

surrendered and engaged in the devotional service of the Supreme Lord

can understand the Supreme Lord as He is. And as stated in

Bhagavad-gita (10.10), dadami buddhi-yogam tam: the Lord gives such a

devotee sufficient intelligence so that ultimately the devotee can

attain Him in His spiritual kingdom.

 

The special qualification of the pure devotee is that he is always

thinking of Krsna without deviation and without considering the time

or place. There should be no impediments. He should be able to carry

out his service anywhere and at any time. Some say that the devotee

should remain in holy places like Vrndavana or some holy town where

the Lord lived, but a pure devotee can live anywhere and create the

atmosphere of Vrndavana by his devotional service. It was Sri Advaita

who told Lord Caitanya, "Wherever You are, O Lord--there is

Vrndavana."

 

As indicated by the words satatam and nityasah, which mean "always,"

"regularly," or "every day," a pure devotee constantly remembers Krsna and

meditates upon Him. These are qualifications of the pure devotee for

whom the Lord is most easily attainable. Bhakti-yoga is the system

that the Gita recommends above all others. Generally, the bhakti-yogis

are engaged in five different ways: (1) santa-bhakta, engaged in

devotional service in neutrality; (2) dasya-bhakta, engaged in

devotional service as servant; (3) sakhya-bhakta, engaged as friend;

(4) vatsalya-bhakta, engaged as parent; and (5) madhurya-bhakta,

engaged as conjugal lover of the Supreme Lord. In any of these ways,

the pure devotee is always constantly engaged in the transcendental

loving service of the Supreme Lord and cannot forget the Supreme Lord,

and so for him the Lord is easily attained. A pure devotee cannot

forget the Supreme Lord for a moment, and similarly the Supreme Lord

cannot forget His pure devotee for a moment. This is the great

blessing of the Krsna conscious process of chanting the

maha-mantra--Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare

Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare.

 

Copyright 1983 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International. Used with

permission.